


Mahalo

by daughter_of_lilith



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Angst, Episode Coda 6.25, Fix-it fic, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-14
Updated: 2016-05-14
Packaged: 2018-06-08 11:02:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6852055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daughter_of_lilith/pseuds/daughter_of_lilith
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Despite what the world at large seems to think Danny Williams is not a petty man. Ok, so Rachel might have some stories from during the divorce that would prove otherwise, but he likes to think he’s grown as a person since then. Besides, there were extenuating circumstances at the time. When he can he likes to consider all his options before making a choice. Likes to weigh up all the pros and cons and make an objective, rational decision. This particular decision he’s facing now though? He doesn’t know if there’s any way he can be rational about it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mahalo

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: This is not a happy ending.
> 
> So that finale broke my heart. I have never written something so fast in my life, but I needed to get this out. I needed to fix it. 
> 
> Unbeta'd so let me know if you find any mistakes.

Despite what the world at large seems to think Danny Williams is not a petty man. Ok, so Rachel might have some stories from during the divorce that would prove otherwise, but he likes to think he’s grown as a person since then. Besides, there were extenuating circumstances at the time. When he can he likes to consider all his options before making a choice. Likes to weigh up all the pros and cons and make an objective, rational decision. He knows his heart rules his head far too often, but he’s been working on controlling his emotions and not letting them push him into rash decisions he knows he’ll regret once he calms down. This particular decision he’s facing now though? He doesn’t know if there’s any way he can be rational about it.

He thinks about it as the Doctor announces he’s fit to be discharged, manfully ignoring the “finally, maybe now I can get some peace and quiet” muttered from the other bed. He thinks about it as he rides the bus back to headquarters to pick up his car, he ponders it on the drive back to his house, and as he cleans out all the food from the fridge that expired in his absence. It weighs on him as he runs out for fresh groceries, and as he sits at the counter nursing the glass of water he wishes was a beer. The official looking envelope lying quietly in front of him offers no opinion. He sighs heavily as he reaches for his phone and dials a number.

“Hey, Rach? Yeah, the docs let me out finally. Yeah, I’m fine. Really, no beers for a few months, but I think I’ll survive. Yeah, but anyway I think I’ve made a decision. Yeah, yeah, you tell the kids. I’ll call my folks and let them know. What? No, this is my decision ok? It’s been a long time coming and I’m not making it lightly. Yeah, yeah, talk to you soon.”

He sighs again and picks up the letter from the counter top. “Ok Williams, waiting is not going to make this any easier. Let’s go.”

***

Governor Denning’s face remains expressionless as he reads the letter. Danny shifts uncomfortably in his chair and tries to get a read off him, but the man’s poker face is inscrutable. Denning finishes his perusal, folds the letter again carefully and lays it on his desk. His eyes meet Danny's; “Not that I don’t appreciate you informing me, but I’m pretty sure I’m not the one who should be reading this.”

“Yeah, I know, but despite what our fearless leader seems to think, this is still actually _your_ task force. Seemed only fair to let you know first. Besides McGarrett’s gonna be out on sick leave for at least a few more weeks before he bullies the Doctors into signing him fit for duty again, and this couldn’t wait.”

Denning rolls his eyes and sighs. “I was rather hoping you’d be there to rein him in and make sure he takes his recovery seriously.”

Danny giggles. “Really? Have you met the guy? He’s never once listened to me about taking it easy and he’s not about to start now.”

Denning acknowledges that comment with a wry smile. “Well, all I can say is that it’s been a pleasure having you as part of Five-0, and you’ll be deeply missed around here.” He stands and holds out his hand.

Danny stands as well and gives the Governor a firm handshake. “Thank you sir, that means a lot to me.”

As Danny turns to leave Denning calls out “Detective, you will let McGarrett know before you leave, right?”

Danny pauses, but doesn’t turn around. “Of course I will, what kinda jerk do you take me for?” As the door swings closed behind him he mutters “I just gotta figure out a way to do it that doesn’t end up with me getting shot.”

***

As it happens Danny doesn’t have to wait long. He’s cleaning out his desk as Steve comes barrelling into the offices. He’s pale and shaking, wearing an old pair of sweats and leaning heavily on Kono as he strides through the doors. “What the hell Danny?!” he yells.

“Sorry boss” Kono says, “he wormed it out of me while I was visiting. It was either I bring him here, or he’d drive here himself, and that didn’t seem like a good idea.”

Danny exhales heavily, and braces himself for the unpleasant confrontation he knows he’s about to face. “It’s ok Kono, let’s just get him to a couch before he falls down, ok?”

Steve glares at him, anger and hurt chasing each other across his face. He shrugs off Kono’s arm and walks stiffly over to Danny’s couch where he drops down heavily, grimacing in pain.

“I’m gonna grab the others and go for lunch.” Kono says.

Steve continues glaring at Danny, anger twisting his features, “Better make it a long one, I need to have a chat with my _partner_ here.”

Kono throws Danny a look but he waves her off, “Go, go, it’ll be fine. I can handle this.”

The others apparently have better self-preservation instincts than Kono, they’re already heading out the door as she catches up to them, leaving Steve and Danny alone.

Danny sits wearily in his office chair and drops his head into his hands. This is not how he wanted this to go.

“Danny?” Steve’s voice is quiet and small, “What’s going on man? You’re leaving the task force and you didn’t even tell me? What’s wrong?”

“I was going to tell you,” Danny starts. “I was going to stop by after I was done here, give you my resignation, explain the whole thing. But you’ve never let me do things my way before, why should you start now?”

“But what’s going on man? Things seemed fine a few days ago when you left the hospital. Did something happen? Is there a problem with Charlie?”

“No Charlie’s fine. Grace is fine too, it’s nothing to do with them. It’s to do with me ok? I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately and I just kinda realized something that I probably should've realized a while ago. It’s time for me to leave Five-0, probably past time. You brought me on originally to be a fresh pair of eyes on your dad’s case, then you kept me around because I knew how to make sure the perps got their rights read correctly, and how to fill out the paperwork so they didn’t walk on a technicality. But you don’t need that anymore, you’ve been doing just fine with Grover the times I’ve been gone…”

“So that’s it? You’re just gonna leave? I thought we were partners Danny, I thought we were friends!”   

Danny breathes deeply, “That’s not it at all ok. Look, Stan and Rachel are getting a divorce…”  
  
“Yeah, well you’re not exactly blameless there are you?” Steve interjects.

Danny bristles at that, but forces himself to ignore the provocation. “Surprisingly, I can accept that I did not come out of that particular situation smelling of roses, no. But that is not the point. Rachel’s parents haven’t been doing so well lately. It’s hard for her being on the other side of the world, and without Stan’s money it’s going to be difficult for her to afford to be there as much as she wants. She’s been talking about moving somewhere closer, but due to the joint custody agreement she can’t move the kids out of Hawaii without my permission.” He pauses, “We’d been discussing it, seeing if there was a way we could make it work that wouldn’t be too disruptive for them when this arrived.”

Danny pulls a folded envelope from his back pocket and hands it to Steve, who grudgingly accepts it. He removes the letter, and scans it quickly, his eyes widening. “They want you to head up a major crime task force in New York? What the..? Why you?”

Danny laughs bitterly, “You know it kinda physically hurts me that you have to ask that. Despite what the rest of you seem to think, I’m not completely incompetent. I was a very good homicide detective, I had 87 convictions under my belt before I moved here, and I haven’t been doing too shabby since then. I have extensive experience with being on a similar task force, and I’m familiar with the area in question.”

“...but you can’t just leave Danny, we need you here...”

“No you don’t.” Danny interrupts firmly, and god he hopes he can get through this next part without losing his temper. “This is your task force, everyone knows that. You’re the heart of it and the glue that holds it together. I’m just following around in your shadow most of the time, you’ll manage just fine without me. Hell, take a look at all the get well cards you got, nobody even remembers I’m here at the best of times…”  
  
“So _that’s_ what this is really all about.” Steve looks really angry now, “You’re just pissy because you got overlooked. Well with that attitude it’s no wonder. Do you need me to grovel, to shower you with thanks for everything you did? I didn’t ask you to give me your damn liver…”

And that? That’s _it_. Danny doesn’t even try to contain his rage as he yells “ _But I did DID do it ok?_ ” He pauses, trying to rein in his temper before he says something he’ll regret. “I did it and I would do it again in a fucking heartbeat. I would have given you anything they asked for, you get that? _Anything!_ Without question, because you’re my best friend on this goddamn island, you’re my _brother_ , but it’s like we barely know each other anymore. And I know it’s my fault too, we’ve barely been able to say a civil word to each other in months, but all I wanted was for my friend Steve to say _thank you_ for saving his damn life.”

He pulls himself together and leans back in his chair, running his hands over his face. Steve looks a little shell-shocked by the outburst, but he’s rallying quickly. Danny holds his hand up to forestall whatever he’s doing to say.

“I said I didn’t need your thanks, and I don’t. I’d have made the same decision either way, it would have been nice to have some acknowledgement of what I did, but that’s not what this is about. This is about me doing something for myself for once. This job opportunity means Rachel can be closer to her folks, we’ll be able to make custody work without flying back and forth across the country every few weeks. I’ll have my family around to help out with Grace and Charlie when I’m at work, and I’ll be able to continue doing the work I love making this world a safer place for my kids. And I’m not gonna lie it’s a pretty big stroke to my ego to be considered for a job like this. It’s kinda nice to be wanted for something other than my car.”

“This isn’t a spur of the moment thing, I am not passively-aggressively punishing you for some imagined slight. Rachel and I had been discussing this for _months_ before the plane crash, I just hadn’t found the right time to bring it up with you. I love you guys, and it’s breaking my heart to leave you all. Like you said, we’re Ohana, but you’ve gotta admit we’ve been shitty partners for a while now. Hell, the Governor sent us to couples counseling for Christ’s sake. We’re not good anymore Steve, and sooner or later that’s gonna get somebody hurt, maybe even killed, and I can’t let that happen.” Danny pauses to draw in a shuddering breath, he is not going to cry.

He stares straight into Steve’s eyes, forces himself not to flinch at the hurt he sees there “I need to leave while there’s still a chance to salvage something of our friendship ok? Cause if we keep going on like this sooner or later one of us is gonna say something we can’t take back, and you mean too much to me let that happen.”

Steve’s face twists in anger again, and oh joy, aneurysm face has made it’s appearance. “Yeah, well if our friendship means so damn much to you, why don’t you stay and fix it? It’s not my fault we’ve drifted. Do you have any idea how hard it is dealing with your negativity all the damn time? Christ Danny, it’s no wonder nobody wants to put up with you with an attitude like that. I don’t know how Melissa stood it for so long, Rachel and Gabby certainly couldn’t get out soon enough...”

Steve snaps his mouth shut in surprise, his brain catching up with the words he’s just said. At least he has the grace to look embarrassed as he tries to backpedal “Shit Danny. I’m sorry… I didn’t mean....”

Danny closes his eyes. Just like that all the anger drains out of him, leaving him tired and empty. “And that right there is why I gotta do this babe. I’ll take that from the scumbags we arrest, but I shouldn’t have to take that from my friends.”

He stands and places the few remaining items on his desk into a box before walking around to the doorway. Steve stares furiously at a point on the floor the whole time, refusing to meet his eyes. Danny stops beside him and rests a hand on his shoulder, feeling the rock-hard tension under his palm.

“Look, let’s just forget that this whole conversation even happened ok? It’s been a privilege working with you, and if you can find it in your heart to forgive me for leaving I hope we can still be friends, and they’ll always be a beer with your name on it if you find yourself in the tri-state area.” Steve continues to stare straight ahead and doesn’t respond.

Danny sighs and removes his hand. “Mahalo Steve, for everything.”

He turns and walks out of the office, resolutely not looking back.

 

**Author's Note:**

> So there's a bunch of codas for the finale out there already and they're all amazing, but I needed one where it was Danny who stood up for himself and decided he wasn't going to take this shit any more. I may come back and write a sequel once I've calmed down, but I needed to get this out while it was still fresh.


End file.
